


Prodigy: The Alec/Max Remix

by inanhourofdreaming



Series: The What If Series [1]
Category: Dark Angel
Genre: Alternate Universe - Episode, Episode: Prodigy, F/M, what if
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-15
Updated: 2014-05-15
Packaged: 2018-01-24 20:39:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1616348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inanhourofdreaming/pseuds/inanhourofdreaming
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if the first time Max meets Alec is before she meets Ben, during season one, when she's still the fun and feisty Max we all loved? This is a "what if" scenario, where Alec is part of the team that comes to get Lydecker during the genetic engineering conference hostage situation in "Prodigy."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Prodigy: The Alec/Max Remix

**Author's Note:**

> What if…Alec had been on the team of soldiers that came to recover Lydecker during Prodigy? In my mind, this happens maybe a year after the events of the Berrisford Agenda in Alec’s timeline.

Max adjusts the jacket of her tanned suit and tries to look like she belongs with the swell of scientists and reporters flocking the conference. No big deal. What Manticore training hadn’t covered, she’d quickly learned on the streets. A con was a con, and she wouldn’t have survived long out there if she didn’t know how to run a good game. Her lips curve into a polite smile as she goes to find a seat in the big conference room.

There’s a man fiddling with a projector at the front of the stage, presumably getting Dr. Tanaka’s presentation ready. Max eyes the exits casually. Training like she’d grown up with doesn’t just disappear, and even after years on the outside some habits are still second nature. A life on the run, of course, hasn’t helped. But Doctor Tanaka could have the makings of a cure for the shakes, and that’s worth a hell of a lot of risk.

Kendra meets her eyes from a few seats away, smirking as the bespectacled man next to her makes some fumbling attempts at conversation. Max ducks her head as her own smile widens. She waggles her eyebrows at Kendra and then has to look away before they both lose it. Leave it to Kendra to find a man before they’d even set out the buffet table. Whatever. Maybe he has a room here. Max perks up a bit at that thought and looks back over. Kendra lifts an eyebrow in question and Max mouths “Towels!” and makes a little pointing motion at glasses dude. Her girl catches on right away, nods and winks. If that man has a room, they will for sure be liberating some towels for the apartment. Maybe some toothpaste, too, if they get lucky.

“Do you mind if I sit here?” a deep voice asks, and she watches a hand wave at the seat next to her.

“All yours,” she gestures, and looks up.

She feels her pulse shoot up and her back stiffens automatically. It takes every bit of training she’s ever had, Manticore and otherwise, to not visibly panic. Lydecker. The figure out of her nightmares. Does he know who she was? Who she is? Is he here for her?

No. Focus, Max, focus! Breath in. Breath out. Polite smile. He’s barely looking at her. He’s making polite conversation. He’s talking about something…the conference?

“Sorry, what was that?” she asks as his voice finally forms into intelligible words.

They stumble through some bullshit small talk about gifted kids before Dr. Tanaka takes the stage. When the kid comes on, she almost forgets who is sitting next to her. Almost. Because watching this kid is like looking into a mirror. This kid doesn’t know any better. Doesn’t know any life other than the one where he performs like a trained monkey because he’s been genetically altered. Because he is more. Just like her.

She watches as he plays the piano, makes halfway plans in the back of her head to get him out. Dr. Tanaka doesn’t seem like a bad guy, but then here is Colonel Lydecker sitting next to her who just minutes ago had been throwing out small talk like he isn’t a dude who got his giggles chaining kids to the bottom of a tank to time how long they could hold their breath. Appearances aren’t everything. She’s a five foot five killing machine, after all.

Something is off here, though, beyond just Lydecker. Something about that waitress with the tray, the guy sitting in the back…it’s tripping off her danger wires like crazy. The dudes blasting through the door, guns firing, when it happens, somehow doesn’t even seem like the biggest shock of the day. Max ducks out of the way but—crap! With Lydecker right next to her there is no way she can do anything out of the ordinary. He may not have recognized her yet, but a tiny girl like her, taking out a bunch of armed men? No way will she be able to explain that away. Best to lay low and sit it out with Kendra. Keep the kid close.

Passing the gun to Lydecker is one of the hardest things she’s ever had to do, but she can’t break cover and he’s their best chance on the inside. He doesn’t know who she was. Who she is. He won’t shoot her even if he does figure it out, not that that’s much of a comfort when the possibility of a return to Manticore is the other option. Still, one step at a time, Max. Focus. She’s been through worse scrapes than this.

The leader of the thugs is talking to someone on the phone. Logan? How does he even know Logan? Does Logan know literally every person in the city of Seattle? Whatever, question for another time. Because whatever Logan has said to convince him, this guy is letting all the women go. Kendra needs out of here but Max isn’t about to leave the kid.

Big burly jerk with the gun, however, appears to have other plans. Fine. Max isn’t about to be waylaid by some pathetic street fighter with a gun and some psychotic tendencies. She rolls her eyes the minute he pushes her forward.

They are ushered into the hallway and fuck, is that Logan? Why is he inside? Damnit! Kendra out, Logan in. Figures. Always somebody’s ass to save. Good thing that’s kinda her full time job these days. Being a revved up female has its advantages. She whispers to Kendra that she’s gonna stay back. Kendra mouths back a “be careful” because her girl clearly knows there’s no keeping Max from a place she wants to be.

Time for the good ol’ “helpless girl” routine.

“Ouch!” she yelps as she collapses dramatically on the stairs. “I think I twisted my ankle.”

She looks up with an exaggerated pout at big, burly dude number whatever. Kendra and the others continue on down the stairs and then out into the hall. Burly dude’s friends obviously figure he can handle one skinny little chick. He reaches down to give her a hand up.

Sucker. Dude is out cold a second later.

“Girl power, bitch,” she says as she steps over his unconscious body. “I can open my own doors, too.” She stops for a moment before turning back to drag the heavy ass thug into the women’s bathroom to tie him up.

“Ugh, go on a diet,” she grumbles. She chucks his gun into one of the toilets on her way out. No need to be sloppy.

Max sneaks her way back to the theatre, hiding in the rafters where she can see everything going down underneath without being in danger of being seen herself. Logan is talking to dude in charge. The phone rings again. Not even her genetically superior ears can hear the voice on the other end of the line, but it looks like the transfer has gone to plan. No one seems to be missing nameless thug for the time being, anyway.

The kid is standing next to Logan, now. Good. At least Logan will be able to get him out of harms way if it comes to it. She’s trying to figure out her next move when she feels it again—that tension. Something is happening. She looks up and freezes. There’s someone on the rafters with her. A man in SWAT gear. Creeping towards her position. Does he see her? Does she have time to—no. Too late. Soldier boy is frozen, too, having clearly spotting her just moments after she saw him. He’s maybe 10 feet away.

They size each other up for a minute. She’s dressed like a civilian, but she’s also hanging out in the rafters and she knows instinct has pushed her into fighting form. Dead giveaway, but too late to change tactics. At least there’s only one guy up here. Neither can risk the commotion of a full-blown fight without giving away their position. She studies his face.

He is…well, he’s kind of beautiful, actually. Full lips, hazel eyes, a smattering of freckles across his nose. The wrinkles between his brows don’t quite ruin the picture as he frowns at her in concentration. And then he lifts his hand and signals her.

_Hold position._

She can feel the incredulous face she’s making before she’s even processed. Seriously? He’s giving _her_ orders? Does he think she’s part of his team? Wait, she should play along with that, she should –

He rolls his eyes at her. He _makes a stupid face back_. Is he giving her ‘tude? What kind of soldier _is_ this guy? He raises his eyebrows at her like she’s the one being unreasonable. He gestures down exaggeratedly and than makes the _hold_ motion again.

Max feels her back straighten but yeah, fine. They clearly both want the same thing here, at least for the time being. He waits a moment until she resignedly nods her assent, then motions again.

_Designation?_

She doesn’t respond. He looks confused again for a minute. Makes the sign again. Maybe he thinks she doesn’t understand? She can’t tell quite what he’s thinking. He’s studying her body again, her face. Probably taking in her small stature, the way she doesn’t look at all like a soldier combined with the cautious stance that reads military up and down no matter how hard she tries to disguise it. And then his eyes widen and his mouth drops open a bit. In surprise, or realization, maybe. Still attractive, even with his mouth hanging open. Fuck this guy, seriously!

More cautious, now, he gestures again.

And then he turns his head about 90 degrees, just enough so that she can see the skin exposed on the back of his neck. So that she can see his barcode. He’s an X, too. She doesn’t disguise the shock on her face at this, either. Couldn’t have, not with his eyes never quite leaving her face. Another gesture.

_You. 09._

She takes a step back, involuntarily. How can he know that? Is he one of her family? Is he going to call the rest of his team? God, she has to get out of here. But Logan, the kid…what can she do? She’s barely registering that he’s signing at her again. She focuses.

_Me. X5-494. You?_

494\. Just one digit off from Ben? Coincidence or…no, not important right now. He’s not one of her siblings. Another X altogether. And he’s setting her off somehow because the terror she was feeling is making way for…annoyance? Her face is full of involuntary expression today. What is it with this guy? Like she’s just going to tell him her designation, just like that, when she’s been running for so long?

He’s looking exasperated again, like she’s the one being difficult. She flicks him off. How’s that for a gesture?

He sticks his tongue out at her, and then looks a little surprised at himself. Well, that makes two of them. He’s clearly here for Lydecker, definitely decked out in military grade everything, and he’s recognized her as an 09er even if he doesn’t know which one, but he hasn’t made a single move towards the communications device he’s got strapped to his gear. He hasn’t actually told anyone she’s here.

It’s a risk. A really, really big risk, given the givens, but they’re at a stalemate and something’s got to give. She moves her hands.

_Me. Max._

She spells her name in sign language. She knows he can read the caution in her hands. Watches as he shapes his mouth around the word. _Max_. He gives her a cheeky smile, then. The kind of charming smile you’d expect to see on the cute guy in the bar after a few beers. A “take me home with you” kind of grin.

_You?_ She asks.

His grin widens.

_A-L-E-C._ He spells out.

Alec. His name is Alec. He has a name, not just a designation. And maybe it’s not much to go on, but with the smile it’s more indication than she thought she’d get that he’s not all Manticore. That maybe there’s a chance she’ll get out of this. She lets herself smile at him, a little dopey thing.

His grin softens a bit, and they kind of just…look at each other. It kind of feels like a moment, actually. Or it would if he weren’t still on the wrong side of the fight. She jerks herself out of the gaze as his head cocks to the side, listening to his earpiece. She pulls back a bit, ready to run if she has to. Watches as his hand goes slowly to the mouthpiece of his radio and he whispers into it. She reads his lips.

_All clear. In position._

He didn’t tell. She feels the tension drip out of her. That was it, his moment, and he just…didn’t tell. He’s giving her that soft smile again, hesitant, hazel eyes glimmering at her. She nods her thank you. Smiles back. He gestures to her again.

_My team. Here. We got this. You go._

He’s letting her leave? But wait. The kid, Logan…she looks down at the people grouped below, then up again. He watches her. He’s got to pick up on her concern. She doesn’t want to give away that she knows Logan but…

_The kid? Safe?_ She gestures carefully.

He nods. Makes a motion like he’s crossing his heart and then:

_Civilians. Safe._

She’s going to trust him. Hasn’t got a choice, really. They’ve clearly got an op in play here, and there’s no way she’s getting away with a kid and a man in a wheelchair, not when she’s already been made. She’s got to trust they’ll be ok in military hands. Alec’s hands. It’s all she’s got.

She nods her assent. Meets his eyes one more time.

_Thank you._

She can feel his eyes on her as she steals away.

 

She hears the gunfire as she hides by the door, darts out with another group of hostages who’ve made it out. She sees Original Cindy, Sketchy, and Herbal huddled by a gate. They call out to her.

“It’s all good,” she smiles, like it was nothing.

“All the time,” Sketchy finishes, looking at Herbal like there’s some conversation they’re finishing.

They wait until the prisoners are freed. She helps Logan smuggle the kid into the back of his car. She’s not going to question how he got him. She’s had enough miracles for today.

She thinks of glittering hazel eyes that night. A smile out of place. “Alec,” she sounds the name out loud for the first time. Alec. Maybe there’s something else worth saving at Manticore, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first in a series of reworkings. I plan to follow the same basic evolution as season one, only with the twist that Max and Alec met here. Each piece will be a stand alone following the general plot of the season 1 episodes, but with the addition of Alec and the developing relationship between Alec and Max. There will be no Logan bashing here, because upon re-watching these earlier episodes I remembered why I actually liked him. (For those who care, he'll probably end up with Asha.) Primarily, though, this will be the story of Max and Alec. Enjoy! :)


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